Garment dryer and shaping apparatus



Sept. 17, 1968 H. B. GRUVER GARMENT DRYER AND SHAPING APPARATUS Filed June 6, 1966 INVEN'I'OR. H54 EA/E .8. GEM/5'2 United States Patent 3,401,852 GARMENT DRYER AND SHAPING APPARATUS Helene B. Gruver, North Hollywood, Calif. (186 S. Gina Ave., El Cajon, Calif. 92021) Filed June 6, 1966, Ser. No. 555,300 8 Claims. (Cl. 223-69) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to garment processing apparatus and more particularly to a novel apparatus for effecting the drying and shaping of a garment regardless of fabric composition or material thickness.

In the processing or handling of garments, it has been a long standing problem to rapidly dry and shape wearing apparel, such as sweaters, skirts, shirts or the like after having been cleaned by employing washing procedures. It is particularly time consuming to dry wearing apparel in the open air that is composed of relatively heavy wool or bulky fabrics. In some instances, the garment may utilize strips of ribbon material as backing in selected areas such as along seams for supporting buttons or decorations and such material generally requires exposure in the open air over a prolonged period of time to effect the drying thereof. Furthermore, other than the general bulkiness of some fabrics, the presence of overlapping layers of fabric at seam locations and the inclusion of buttons, fasteners, hooks and the like present difiicult areas to be handled during a drying procedure inasmuch as the bulkiness of these areas has a tendency to distort or warp the garment fabric to other than its normal and desired shape.

It has been the conventional practice to effect the removal of moisture or to dry wearing apparel by employing a ventilated screen that is supported in fixed spaced relationship with respect to a supporting surface such as a counter or sink top. The ventilated screen is in the form of a net or close-meshed strands and since the screen is raised from the supporting surface, complete air circulation about the garment to be dried is assured. However, problems and difficulties have been encountered when using such a conventional device which stem largely from the fact that the garment is merely resting on the net screen and no means are provided for shaping or holding the garment in place thereon. In the event that the garment is composed of shrinkable material, pins must be employed to hold the garment edges in place on the screen in order that the garment retain its original shape and size during the drying procedure. Furthermore, by supporting the conventional devices on table tops or sink tops, valuable top space is taken up which cannot be used for other purposes during the drying procedure. Generally, since conventional drying apparatus employs a stand for supporting the drying screen, problems are encountered which reside in providing means for collapsing or otherwise reducing the size of the stand so that the device may be readily stored. Consequently, conventional devices fail to provide a suitable means for supporting a garment during the drying operation in an open air situation which will ensure that the garment will retain its previous size and shape, provide 3,401,852 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 for rapid drying by providing adequate ventilation and provide for such a size and configuration so as to readily be stored when not in use.

To obviate the difficulties and problems encountered with the employment of conventional devices, the present invention provides a pair of screened panels including means for detachably securing the frames together at their opposite ends so as to readily mount and maintain the garment to be dried therebetween. Through the employment of a pair of screen members carried by the panels, sufficient resiliency is provided so that relatively bulky fabrics as well as garment accessories may be readily accommodated so that the size and shape of the garment will be maintained throughout the drying procedure. Furthermore, means are provided for supporting the screened panel carrying the garment to be dried from elevated supports such as a shower curtain bar or rod or from a clothes hanger which may be outwardly extending from the top of a door. Inasmuch as the garment is to be dried in the open air, by supporting the apparatus in the upper part of the room, ambient temperature will greatly accelerate the drying operation as opposed to conventional devices which locate the article to be dried either on the floor or in the lower half of the room.

The present invention further provides a means for offsetting the screen mesh of one panel from the screen mesh carried by the other panel in such a manner that the space or area between the screens when placed in juxtaposition can be varied in order to accommodate garments of different thicknesses and weights. To facilitate the selection of the area to be employed between the screens, a specially formed lower retaining means is provided for retaining the frames. The device of the present invention also includes means whereby the apparatus may be either supported from a point midway between its opposite sides or an alternative, by means of hooks which are located adjacent the opposite side of the panel combination.

Through the employment of the present invention, the garment is adequately ventilated through the close mesh strands of the screen members so that both sides of the garment are adequately exposed for complete air circulation thereabout in order that both sides of the garment dry at substantially the same time and rate. Shape is maintained by the garment during the drying procedure because of its slightly being compressed between the opposite and opposing screens so that the garment is under slight tension at all times during the drying procedure.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and novel apparatus for readily drying and shaping a garment such as a sweater, skirt, shirt or the like in an open air environment whereby both sides of the garment are exposed to air circulation thereabout while maintaining the garment under Compressive tension.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel garment drying and shaping apparatus for retaining a garment to be dried and which includes provisions for accommodating a variety of Wearing apparel composed of relatively thin and ungathered fabrics as well as relatively thick and substantially bulky garment material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel drying and shaping apparatus suitable for supporting the apparatus in open air from elevated structural supports such as shower rods or door hanger hooks.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel garment dryer and shaping apparatus that employs a pair of frames for holding screen members in juxtaposition opposite each other so as to provide an area inbetween into which a garment may be placed for drying purposes and including means for clamping the opposite ends of the frames togefher so that a compressive force is applied to opposite sides of the garment by the screen members.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel drying apparatus for wearing apparel that includes opposing spaced apart screen members having sufiicient resiliency so as to apply a slight compressive force against the opposite sides of a garment to be dried in a defined area interposed between the screen members so that the opposite sides of the garment are exposed to the open air for drying purposes and so that the garment is properly tensioned to ensure the retention of size and shape thereof.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation,together With further objects and advantages. thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the novel garment dryer and shaping apparatus of the present invention illustrating a typical garment held therein;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view, partly broken away, of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 2 illustrating the screen panels as being held together by a retaining means;

FIGURE 4a is a side elevational view, showing a portion of the screen panels in section, of the apparatus as taken in the direction of arrows 4a-4a of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4b and 4c are views similar to FIGURE 4a illustrating alternate positions of the screen panels so as to accommodate garments of varying bulkiness;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the hook means incorporated into the apparatus of FIG- URE 2 as taken in the direction of arrow 55 thereof;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention incorporating a combined hanger and clamp arrangement for supporting the apparatus; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the com bined hanger and clamp arrangement employed to support the apparatus as shown in FIGURE 6.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the novel garment drying and shaping apparatus of the present invention is shown as indicated in the general direction of arrow 10 that is employed for supporting a garment such as a sweater 11 for complete air circulation therearound. The apparatus is supported from an elevated rod 12 which may take the form of a shower curtain rod in a typical bath room. The apparatus is supported thereon by hook means 13 and 14 which are arranged near the opposite sides of the apparatus so that the apparatus is evenly supported and attains a stable condition in a downwardly depending position from the rod 12.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, the apparatus 10 comprises a pair of framed panels 15 and 16 having parallel end frame segments and parallel side frame segments attached together in an end-to-end relationship so as to provide an enlarged central opening defined by the end and side frame segments. Each panel of the pair is provided with a screen member 17 and 18 respectively that extends across the central opening defined by the frame segments so that, in essence, the panels 15 and 16 take the form of screen panels which lie in engaging relationship next to each other.

The screen panels are releasably held together by means of a retainer 20 which engages the bottom ends of the screen panel combination and a detachable clamp 21 that is employed to hold and retain the combined screen panels at the opposite top ends thereof.

Preferably, the screen members 17 and 18 are formed from strands of plastic-like material having the characterisiic of being slightly resilient so as to be able to be pushed outwardly a slight distance in order to accommodate a bulky garment or accessory therebetween. Also, by fabricating the screen member from plastic-like material, no danger or threat of the garment becoming stained by the material of the screen strands is encountered. It is desirable to employ a screen mesh which is sufiiciently large enough so as to permit maximum ventilation for rapid drying of the garment while at the same time represents a suflicient garment-strand engaging surface so that the garment is adequately supported between the screen panels to retard or restrict the garment from any tendencies to shrink or otherwise change its shape.

Referring now to FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 4a in particular, it is to be noted that each of the panels 15 and 16 include frame segments which are provided with a formed groove 22 for receiving and retaining the edge marginal region of each screen member 17 and 18 respectively. The edge marginal region around the periphery of the screen is forced into the groove 22 associated with each frame segment and each screen member is retained therein in an interference type fit by installing an elastomeric seal 23 that holds the screen members in place. It is of considerable importance to note that each frame segment of the panels 15 and 16 is hollow in construction and are of substantial thickness in width and that the formed groove 22 therein opens outwardly on one side of each frame segment so that the screen member carried therein lies substantially in the same plane as that side of the frame segment. For example, screen 17 associated with panel 15 lies in a plane extending along one side of the frame so that an area 24 equal in thickness to the width of the frame segment is provided into which the garment 11 may be placed. In a similar fashion, an area 25 is provided within the frame segments of panel 16 into which a portion of the garment 11 may be located. Thereby, areas 24 and 25 may be considered as a garment holding area defined by the inner perimeter of the frame segments forming panels 15 and 16 and enclosed by the screen members 17 and 18.

It is to be particularly noted that the retainer v20 is fixedly secured to the bottom frame segment of the panel 16 mid-way between its opposite sides 28 and by such means as a screw type fastener 26 that extends through a retainer base 27 into the frame segment. The retainer base 27 extends outwardly from opposite sides of the panel 16 and is provided with flanges 28 and 30 formed in the opposite ends thereof that project upwardly to provide a pair of slots or receivers 31 and 32 in conjunction with the bottom frame segment of panel 16. Each receiver is defined by the inner surface of a flange and the adjacent surface of one side of the panel 16. The dimensionel width of each receiver is substantially equal to the width of the bottom frame segment of the panel 15 so that the panel 15 may be readily inserted into either of the receivers and retained therein.

Once panel 15 has been inserted into either of receptacles 31 or 32, clamp means 21 may be engaged with the opposite end of the combined panels to retain the panels together as a unitary structure. Clamp means 21 includes a base portion 33 that has a width slightly exceeding the width of the combined frames 15 and 16 when placed adjacent each other in abutting contact. The opposite sides of the base portion 33 are formed with inwardly inclined clip portions 34 and 35 respectively that releasably engage with the opposite sides of the top frame segments of the combined panels 15 and 16. The clamp means 21 adequately holds the top portion of the combined panels together while the retainer 20 holds the bottom of the frames together. The top of the panels are readily released by merely removing the clamp means which permits the panels to be separated.

As illustrated in FIGURE 4a, screen panel 15 is disposed against one side of panel 16 Within receiver 32 so that its garment holding area 24 combines with garment holding area 25 defined by panel 16 resulting in a maximum garment holding area between screen members 17 and 18. However, referring now to FIGURE 4b, panel 15 is positioned within receiver 32 so that its screen member 17 is substantially closer to the screen member 18 of panel 16 so that only garment receiving area 25 is available in which to hold the garment 11 for drying. In the event very thin or light fabrics are to be dried by the apparatus 10, screen or panel 15 may be arranged as illustrated in FIGURE 40 within the receiver 31 so that screen members 17 and 18 are disposed in relatively close fixed spaced relationship defining a relatively narrow garment holding area 36.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, the hanger means for supporting the apparatus 10, is illustrated which takes the form of a substantially S shaped hanger 13 have a lower hook portion 37 which may be readily passed through aligned and mated holes 38 provided in the top frame segments of the panels 15 and 16 respectively. The other end of the hanger 13 includes a hook portion 40 that may be readily adapted to be placed on the rod 12 or any other suitable supporting structure so that the apparatus may downwardly depend therefrom.

Referring now to FIGURES 6 and 7, another embodiment of a clamp and hanger arrangement is illustrated by numeral 41 for supporting the panels and 16 of the apparatus 10. The hanger and clamp arrangement 41 includes the basic clip portion 21 as previously described having a support element 42 secured to the exterior surface of the base portion 33 to which a hanger 43 is suitably secured, such as by screws or rivets indicated by numeral 44. The free end of the hanger 43 is provided with a hooked portion 45 which may be readily positioned on a line or rod to support the panel assembly in an air circulating system during the drying procedure for the garment.

In actual operation, reference will be made to the embodiment shown in FIGURES l-3 inclusive and with respect to FIGURE 4a in which the bottom frame segment of panel 15 is retained within the receiver 32 so that the garment 11 is disposed in the holding area 24-25 between the screen members 17 and 18. The screen members exert a slight pressure against the opposite sides of the garment so that the garment is retained in position with respect to the screen members even though the panel assembly is moved about from one position to another. Clamp 21 holds the other end of the combined panels together so that the combined storage area 24 and retains the garment in place therein. Both sides of the garment are exposed to ambient temperature and drying occurs from both sides of the garment. In the event buttons, ribbons, decorations or the like are secured to the garment, the mesh of the screen members 17 and 18 permit sufficient lateral expansion to accommodate any variations in thickness. However, in the event that thinner or less bulky material is to be dried, the panel 15 may be arranged as illustrated in FIGURE 4b or 4c so as to provide a more limited holding area between the screen members 17 and 18. Once the garment has been properly placed within the area between screen members 17 and 18, the assembled screen panels including the garment may be downwardly suspended from rod 12 by employing either the hanger means 13 or the combined hanger and clamp arrangement 41.

In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that the drying and shaping apparatus of the present invention provides an improved means for drying and shaping garments that has many advantages over the prior art. After the device has been used, storage presents no particular problem inasmuch as the panels 15 and 16 may be assembled, clipped together by clamp 21 and stored against a wall or in a closet or on the floor under a bed, dresser or desk. Inasmuch as the overall thickness of the combined panel construction is relatively thin, no means are necessary to provide for collapsing of the structure when not in use for storage purposes. By enclosing the garment to be dried using the screen members 17 and 18, rapid drying is assured from both sides of the garment and the slight tension applied to the garment by the screen members assures proper retention of garment size and shape when the drying operation is completed. Although the present embodiment of the present invention illustrates the screen panels as being of square configuration, it is to be understood that other configurations and shapes of screen members and panels may be employed incorporating the advantageous features of the present invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the frame segments of the panels 15 and 16 may be composed of metal, plastic or any other suitable material without departing from the invention.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the'art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A garment drying and shaping apparatus comprising:

a pair of panels arranged in releasable side-by-side engageable contact;

each of said panels including a flexible taut mesh screen member carried thereon so as to define a garment holding area between said screen members when said panels are engaged whereby opposite sides of the garment are engaged by said screen members;

means releasably engageable with said pair of panels to hold said panels together so that the garment is held in place by said screen members; and wherein said screen members have a resilient characteristic so as to expand laterally to accommodate the thickness of the garment and to exert a slight compressive tension force against the opposite sides of the garment.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said holding means includes:

a retainer secured to a selected one of said panels and having at least one slot formed therein for holding the other of said panels; and

a resilient clamp detachably connected to said engaging panels at the ends of said panels opposite to their ends held by said retainer.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 including means for selectively orienting said pair of panels with respect to each other to effectively vary the distance between said screen members whereby said garment holding area may accommodate garments of varying thickness or bulkiness.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein each screen member is carried by each of said panels in a plane substantially parallel and coplanar to one side thereof so that a garment receiving area or recess is provided on the opposite side of each of said panels.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 wherein said retainer includes two slots, each disposed on opposite sides of said selected panel and each of said slots being adapted to selectively hold said other panel whereby said garment holding area defined between said screen members may be selectively increased or decreased.

6. A garment drying and shaping apparatus exposing a wet garment to ambient air circulation to allow the simultaneous drying of the garment from both sides thereof, the combination comprising:

a pair of panels;

each panel of said pair having a centrally open and rigid frame and a flexible mesh screen member drawn taut across the opening thereof; and

means detachably coupled to said frames for holding said panels in side-by side engageable contact so as to provide a garment holding area defined between said screen members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sublette 22369 Roberts 223-69 Wittie 223-69 X Crews 22369 X Hoodis 22369 X PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

